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Updated: June 21, 2025
Towards midnight it freshened, veering from South-West by South to West-South-West with some rather sharp rain squalls. It appears that the westerly winds had already set in, and that the calm we experienced on the 17th was an unoccupied space between the easterly and westerly winds.
In this condition of anxiety and suspense we continued to run away to the west-south-west until sunset, without sighting anything; and then, fearful of running past one or more of the objects of our quest during the night-time without seeing them, I hove the schooner to under foresail and jib, with the topsail aback, so that we might remain as nearly as possible where we were excepting for our lee drift all through the night.
On the 30th, as we were steering south-west, we kept a good lookout all night for the islands called Keelings, or Cocos Islands; being uncertain whether their situation was well ascertained: at noon on the 31st, the latitude observed was 12° 10' south; this I supposed to be rather to the southward of them, and altered the course to west-south-west: at three in the afternoon, we discovered the islands under our lee, distant about four leagues: there are three of them well covered with wood, but they are very low and flat; there are several smaller spots like rocks above water; the larger islands have sandy beaches, and in many places there were very high breakers: the latitude of the south side is 12° 06' south; the longitude by account from Java Head, but afterwards confirmed by observations of is 98° 03' east.
The order was executed with great readiness, and, as the ships had been looking up as high as west-south-west before, when they got round, and headed north-north-east, their line of sailing was still quite a league to windward of that of the enemy. As each vessel filled on the larboard tack, she shortened sail to allow the ships astern to keep away, and close to her station.
At daylight in the Morning we steer'd West-South-West, and afterwards West by South, which by Noon brought us into the Latitude of 9 degrees 30 minutes South, and Longitude 229 degrees 34 minutes West, and by our run from New Guinea ought to be in sight of Wessels Isle, which, according to the Chart is laid down about 20 or 25 Leagues from the coast of New Holland; but we saw nothing, by which I conclude that it is wrong laid down; and this is not to be wonder'd at when we consider that not only these Islands, but the lands which bound this Sea have been discover'd and explored by different people and at different times, and compiled and put together by others, perhaps some Ages after the first discoveries were made.
There the first trees fell with the wind from West-South-West; a few fell when the wind was east, and most when the wind was north-west. The Malays have an idea that every fifth year the monsoon is stronger than usual, but can give no reason for thinking so. According to them this monsoon ought to have been a strong one.
From the top of these ridges the lake could be seen stretching away to the west or west-south-west in vast proportions, having several salt arms running back from it at various distances.
The bearings, when at anchor in Duncombe Bay, were Cook's rocks east-south-east, and the rocks off Point Howe, west-south-west one quarter west, the landing rock south, distance off one mile; the depth nineteen fathoms, coarse sand and coral.
At a distance of about two miles from the mouth of the creek we reached a spot where it forked, one arm the wider of the two running in a due east-by-south direction, while the other trended away to the west-south-west, communicating as we afterwards discovered with another creek which, although too shoal for navigation by sea-going craft, would have afforded us excellent facilities for a reconnaissance with the boats.
It would appear that on a line running east-north-east and west-south-west from La Guayra and Caracas to the lofty mountains of Niquitao and Merida, the violence of the earthquake was principally directed. At Valecillo, a few leagues from Valencia, the yawning earth threw out such an immense quantity of water, that it formed a new torrent.
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